How Motherhood Shifted My Creative Path: My Journey to Starting Again

In my first two posts, I shared how fear, self-doubt, and perfectionism kept me stuck for years — and how I’m learning to honor and recognize my own form of creativity. But one question kept coming up as I wrote: Why now? Why finally begin after all this time?

The answer, in large part, is motherhood.

A little over two years ago, my daughter was born in a medical emergency. She arrived unresponsive, and for several tense minutes, the doctors worked to bring her to life. By the grace of something much larger than me, she came through. Becoming a parent changed me in ways I’ll never fully be able to describe — reshaping how I see life, time, and what truly matters.

Now that my little one is two and a half, I’ve been gifted with small pockets of time here and there — moments I can finally use to work on something for myself. Motherhood has a way of completely changing your life, and just as easily, setting aside the things you love until you almost forget what they were. Creativity became one of those things for me.

I’ve always had a tendency to plan too far into the future — to wait until everything feels perfectly thought out before starting. But motherhood has taught me that time is precious and fleeting. If I want to create, I have to start now, in the moments I have, even if they’re small and imperfect. Waiting for the “right time” only leads to more paralysis, more fear, and more unanswered what-ifs.

Being a parent has also taught me patience, resilience, and adaptability — qualities that apply just as much to creativity as they do to raising a child. I’m learning that I don’t need everything figured out to begin. I can take imperfect steps, learn as I go, and still create something meaningful.

So why now? Because I can’t wait any longer. Because life is too fragile to keep my dreams shelved. Because my daughter showed me just how precious every moment is — and I want to fully inhabit my own life, creativity and all.

This is me choosing curiosity over fear, motion over paralysis, and creation over waiting. And this is just the beginning.

Now that I recognize that creativity comes in many forms — not just painting, crafting, or making things for others — I feel a greater sense of freedom and far less pressure to “perform” or be perfect.

I’m not starting from scratch — I’m circling back to the parts of myself that were always there, walking forward one small, unfinished step at a time.